Jul 09, 2013 |
Nanotechnology material could help reduce CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants
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(Nanowerk News) University of Adelaide researchers have developed a new nanomaterial that could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power stations.
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The new nanomaterial, described in the Journal of the American Chemical Society ("Post-synthetic Structural Processing in a Metal–Organic Framework Material as a Mechanism for Exceptional CO2/N2 Selectivity"), efficiently separates the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from nitrogen, the other significant component of the waste gas released by coal-fired power stations. This would allow the carbon dioxide to be separated before being stored, rather than released to the atmosphere.
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"A considerable amount of Australia's - and the world's - carbon dioxide emissions come from coal-fired power stations," says Associate Professor Christopher Sumby, project leader and ARC Future Fellow in the University's School of Chemistry and Physics.
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"Removing CO2 from the flue gas mixture is the focus of a lot of research. Most of Australia's energy generation still comes from coal. Changing to cleaner energies is not that straightforward but, if we can clean up the emissions, we've got a great stop-gap technology."
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The researchers have produced a new absorbent material, called a 'metal-organic framework', which has "remarkable selectivity" for separating CO2 from nitrogen.
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"It is like a sponge but at a nanoscale," says Associate Professor Sumby. "The material has small pores that gas molecules can fit into - a CO2 molecule fits but a nitrogen molecule is slightly too big. That's how we separate them."
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Other methods of separating CO2 from nitrogen are energy-intensive and expensive. This material has the potential to be more energy efficient. It's easy to regenerate (removing the CO2) for reuse, with small changes in temperature or pressure.
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"This material could be used as it is but there are probably smarter ways to implement the benefits," says Associate Professor Sumby. |
"One of the next steps we're pursuing is taking the material in powder form and dispersing it in a membrane. That may be more practical for industrial use."
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The project is funded by the Science Industry Endowment Fund and is a collaboration between researchers in the Centre of Advanced Nanomaterials, in the School of Chemistry and Physics, and the CSIRO.
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